At the age of 25, Dawn Ma put on a tutu again, signed up for ballet lessons and tried to hoist herself on her toes in the “en pointe” position. “Boy, it was like learning to walk again,” said Ma, recalling her experience coming back to the art form after a 6-year hiatus in engineering school. That was 10 years ago. Ma is still doing ballet and she is not the only one discovering the joy of ballet as an adult. Ballet has found new devotees among grown men and women across the country. Search the Internet for “adult ballet lessons” or “adult ballet class” and you will find pages and pages of listings. Taking ballet lessons as an adult can have many benefits, but there are limitations as well.

Different ballet troupes come from around the country. New York has the Joffrey Ballet and a ballet studio in every neighborhood, but San Francisco is fast becoming the next ballet Mecca, with many dance companies making innovations in the art. It’s in that environment that Kathy Mata opened her ballet school named, simply enough, Kathy Mata Ballet. The school is one of a very few in the country that only trains adults.

In addition to teaching at her own school and leading her own group, Kathy Mata has also been teaching adult classical ballet classes at the San Francisco Dance Center since 1995. Mata cannot stop singing the praise of adult ballet. An adult picking up ballet can gain “knowledge, grace, understanding of the art,” she said. The adult ballet dancer can also gain pleasure in learning the dance and possibly also performing, as her group does.

No Age Limits for Ballet LessonsAge is not an issue. There are no age limits, Mata said. Not for women, not for men. However, “there are limitations on what you can do after 40,” she added.

Writing in the New York Times in 2006, Roberta Hershenson told the story of Virginia Honneus, who began ballet in her 30’s and taught an adult ballet class at the Scarsdale Ballet Studio. At the time, Honneus was 65 years old, and she could still lift her leg above her head. Honneus told the story of an even older student, “A woman in her 80s wants a class. She says you should never stop, because then you lose contact with your body.”

The Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2007 published a story by Maria Howard about an adult ballet class at the Weinstein Jewish Community Center in Richmond, Virginia. The class had adult ballerinas of varying ages, “the oldest in her early 70s.” Age did not show in that ballet class. “All of them moved with grace and precision. Their bodies were fluid and toned,” Howard wrote.

Everybody Does BalletFitness is also not a prerequisite to adult ballet lessons. “To some degree being fit helps,” Mata explained, “but you gain strength and control of the body as you continue to take classes.”

Mata also brushed aside concerns by people who think they have “two left feet,” who can’t hold a tune, who can’t keep a beat or who don’t have a ballet figure. “I have people with all sorts of issues and nothing is impossible,” she asserted.

Dawn Ma is one of Mata’s students, and she experienced self-doubt about returning to ballet school. As she told it, “I do not have a ballet figure – long limbs, trim body – but Kathy saw through the stereotypes and work with ‘what I have,’ which I found out [in my twenties] is a lot! I’m 35 now, and I think my body is still changing, in terms of how it works.”

To refute a common misconception, apparently your feet actually don’t hurt when standing on the tip of your toes (the “en pointe” position). Mata stated that your feet would hurt “only if a woman or man goes en pointe before they are strong.” Ma agreed, “Contrary to common misconception, pointe work is 90 percent on your upper body, as opposed to your toes.” She explained, “Your ankle definitely needs to be strong enough to ‘snap’ you up en pointe, but it’s your upper body that literally lifts you off the floor.”

It’s not just women who take adult ballet lessons and find them helpful. Ma’s partner at her architectural firm also takes ballet with Mata. Ma and her partner find that ballet “surpasses” any other form of exercising, like going to the gym or running.

Ballet Is the New YogaHowever, they also find that a ballet class is not just an artistic version of, say, kick-boxing or some other hard exercises. To Ma, ballet is more like meditation: “You’re constantly aware of your inner and outer environment, and your effort is to find equilibrium in between.”

Other ballet enthusiasts have expressed similar thoughts. Robert McCollum teaches adult ballet lessons at the National Ballet School in Toronto, and he told the Toronto Star’s Marlene Habib in a 2000 interview, “What makes dancers special is they have an inner line that’s a pull between heaven and Earth."

“It’s not necessarily about ballet, but about people getting out there and being active to relieve the pressure and stress of work which tends to make us hibernate at home,” McCollum added.

Sara Stevenson, school coordinator at Zenon Dance Company and School in Minneapolis, told the Saint Paul Pioneer Press in a 2000 story by Rhoda Fukushima, “You’re doing [ballet] not just to work up a sweat and build muscles and burn calories. You’re doing it to create some beauty. That adds something.”

Some Words of CautionYou should, however, take some caution. Mata advised that adult students “should not practice at home unless they understand the basics,” especially if your home is carpeted. “Capet is very injurious,” she said. “There are workout tapes to use that are helpful.” Adult ballet is becoming so popular that companies are even selling portable ballet barres.

Pregnancy can also be a limitation. “No jumping after 5 or 6 months depending on doctor’s advice,” Mata said. However, “if you’re pregnant but you’ve been dancing then it’s fine. Just no jumping.”

People with certain medical conditions, such as heart disease or asthma, should seek advice from a physician before taking ballet lessons. “Things can be overcome with medicine and a doctor’s care, then after that ballet can be done to help with a lot of conditions with the doctor’s guidance,” Mata said.

Hard Work Pays OffIf adult ballet lessons sound like a lot of hard work, they are. As McCollum told the Toronto Star, “Art is about the beauty of line, and beauty of line doesn’t happen overnight.” Pat Allesso, co-owner of Alesso’s Dance Spectrum in St. Paul, mirrored that thought in a Saint Paul Pioneer Press story: “Ballet does not give instant gratification. It is definitely for the person who values the gradual learning and achievement.”

Ballet classes also have their rewards. Mata described the satisfaction of doing ballet this way: “The students received self-fulfillment and desire to dance with joy and music. They gain self-esteem and knowledge of dance.”

So if you’re looking to tone your body with grace and poise, consider taking ballet lessons.

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